Warner DVD Hit With Virus

In what it believed to be a first for the new format, Warner Home Video this week issued a recall of The Powerpuff Girls: Meet the Beat-Alls DVD because its DVD-ROM features include a computer virus.

The virus, which can damage computer operating systems, was “inadvertently incorporated” during the replication process, according to Warner. The DVD streeted Oct. 23.

Warner is asking retailers to return all unsold DVD copies for a full refund. Further shipments have been suspended. It’s up to retailers to determine how they want to handle any customer returns, according to a Warner spokesperson.

Warner’s sales divisions have been notified and are calling and sending letters to retail accounts, the spokesperson says. New copies will be available in the next few weeks, according to the studio.

Bill Hunt, editor of the DVD Web site The Digital Bits, says it’s the first time he’s heard of such a problem and is surprised it hasn’t come up in the four years since the format’s launch.

“I’m guessing that what happened is the computer that did the authoring was infected,” he says. “I at first didn’t believe it, but I popped it in and scanned and sure enough there was a virus. The good thing about it is it only affects you if you use it in your computer.”

He calls the incident an “isolated case” and says it probably won’t happen with “major, major” titles that are exhaustively quality tested. It’s a “rare, bizarre thing,” he says.

A Blockbuster spokesperson says the chain isn’t carrying the Powerpuff title on DVD, “so it’s not really a concern for us.”